£4.5 million from HLF for The Postal Museum

We are delighted to announce today that the BPMA has secured £4.5m in funding towards The Postal Museum, including Mail Rail, following a successful application to the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The news means that we have now raised over 95% of the funds needed to build a new, national museum in Central London and open up the old Post Office Underground Railway to the general public for the first time in its 100 year history.

Talking about the decision Sue Bowers, Head of HLF London, said:

“This wonderful new museum and archive repository are set to be enhanced by plans to open up the historic ‘Mail Rail’ for visitors to experience. Proposals for major redevelopment work will help people learn more about the key role the postal service played in shaping the modern world. It will also regenerate a part of London that has strong community involvement but ranks high on the list of social deprivation. The combination of all these factors make for an exciting project and we’re delighted to be confirming an investment of £4.5m today.”

We’re now working to secure the last necessary funds to move into the build phase for the museum, which will begin later this year.

On this exciting day, we’re also happy to announce that we have now set up a website specifically for news and information relating to our plans. Postalmuseum.org is a one-stop-shop providing all the latest on The Postal Museum and Mail Rail. We’ll be updating it regularly so be sure to check back for new content.

Finally, I’d personally like to thank all those that have supported us to date and will continue to do so in the future as we begin to realise our dream of opening up this nationally, and internationally, important part of our collective social history. We couldn’t have got here without you.